Hanyu at his age is better than Plushenko was at the same age. Just get over it. The sport has evolved and people are learning more and more at a younger age. Of course, what makes Hanyu so special in addition to the technical ability is his ability to understand music and perform and hit amazing positions. Quite a few people at 17 these days are technically stronger than Plushenko was at 17, but they all lack the performance/artistic ability Plushenko had. Except for Hanyu.

I reckon that on the technical side Hanyu is even batter than 17 years old Plushenko. He does all the quads, triple axels and triple jumps but he makes them much more difficult because of the new thing that basically didn't exist back then - TRANSITIONS. What we see in Plushenko's performances are those high, powerful quads and triple axels but with simple straight entrances. Who knows whether or not Plushenko would've been able to land his humongous triple axel out of spread eagle or right after a counter turn. Then, we should also consider the fact that Hanyu has way more difficult and complex spins and he usually maintains the speed and centering even while spinning in those difficult CoP-variations. Another thing is step sequences. Again the level of difficulty and intricacy has increased dramatically since Plushenko's teen years. Technically, 17 years old Hanyu crushes Plushenko at the same age.

However, on the perfromance/artistic side I would say that Hanyu is no match for Plushenko's exceptional charisma and performance skills.

The thing is that skating always progresses, or at least the demands changed. The jumps may not be as high today because of the entries and exits required, but the complexity has increased.

However, to say that Hanyu crushes Plushenko when compared age to age (i.e., both at age 17) leaves out the fact that if Plushenko had been 17 now, he would certainly have trained differently, and who knows how phenomenal he would have been when skating to these standards? After all, John Curry skated when men were barely expected to do triples (the triple axel had not yet been achieved in a competition), and yet he's still riveting to watch, and who knows....

I believe that greatness can only be quantified up to a certain point. Can Hanyu and Plushenko be compared at the same age? I suppose it can be done, but I can't do it.

At the risk of being mauled I am going to say that Dai is more of an exhibition skater than a competition skater.

I understand what you mean. The difference between Takahashi and Plushenko is that Takahashi never does mindmill with his arms. The similarity between Takahashi and Plushenko is that they both use their upper body a lot to dazzle the eyes of the viewers, and made their body and arms the focal point of their skating. This might be the reason that Takahashi's Blues for Klook couldn't have received higher PCS.